McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus the Jetsons treatment

Re:McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus ... by gruez on Saturday February 27, 2021 @11:39PM (#26290730)

>Users have to sign up in advance via smartphone with a selfie and a credit card. Then, after they order, they can say they want to use PopPay; a camera will take a photo so their identity can be confirmed and money deducted from their account.

This seems pointless. In the time it takes you to pull up to the camera, stop the car, line up your face, wait for your face to be recognized, you could have paid with a NFC card/phone. NFC also doesn't require you to register for an account and deposit money ahead of time. The only advantage I can think of is for mcdonalds, which pays less credit card fees because they can bundle transactions together.

AI order taking also seems questionable to me. Voice ordering is bad enough (shitty audio quality, having to repeat/clarify yourself), I don't want to contend with a shitty chatbot on top. App based ordering seems better in every way. It also allows you to park your car and do your ordering/waiting in peace, as opposed to wasting gas while inching through the drive-through lane with half a dozen cars behind you.

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Re:McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus ... by dripton on Saturday February 27, 2021 @11:42PM (#26290749)

I think it's mostly to get you to install the app, so they can advertise at you.

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Re:McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus ... by me_me_me on Monday March 01, 2021 @05:45AM (#26301473)

and tie your face/info to credit card

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Re:McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus ... by diduuee on Sunday February 28, 2021 @04:22AM (#26291932)

I'm not sure I agree the gains are so small. Since automated order taking is already solved then once you remove the need to wait for customers to physically present payment you can largely remove cashier roles entirely unless one is requested by a customer. This also has a lot of interesting potential for servicing individuals who might be prone to losing money/cards such as the homeless. I'm all for demanding they retain the ability to take payment in more privacy respecting mediums but personally I'd find this wildly convenient.

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Re:McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus ... by BuyMyBitcoins on Sunday February 28, 2021 @01:19AM (#26291109)

Heck, you could just use a license plate reader and get the same result. Not really “secure” but I’m okay with less than robust identity verification to buy a McDouble and some happy meals.

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Re:McDonald's and other chains are giving their drive-thrus ... by WoodenChair on Saturday February 27, 2021 @11:43PM (#26290751)

> This seems pointless. In the time it takes you to pull up to the camera, stop the car, line up your face, wait for your face to be recognized, you could have paid with a NFC card/phone. NFC also doesn't require you to register for an account and deposit money ahead of time. The only advantage I can think of is for mcdonalds, which pays less credit card fees because they can bundle transactions together.

The recognition will only get better/faster over time. And if you are a regular at a certain restaurant, it will probably save you quite a bit of time over the years. What if you forget your phone or wallet? You can still get a burger. But overall, yes, I think there is more benefit for the restaurant than the consumer. At the same time, any restaurant savings may result in lower food prices, more investment in cleaner restaurants, higher quality food, etc.

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